Canon is seeking to increase its profile in the Australian document management market with the launch of Canon Managed Document Services (Canon MDS), providing large organisations with full management of every stage from capture to print. 

“The service goes far beyond just innovation in hardware. It’s about partnering with a business to deliver a highly flexible, integrated approach to workflow, document and print management. It’s about finding a solution that saves money, increases productivity and provides a sustainable approach for environmental responsibility,” said Danielle Brender, Product Manager MDS, Canon Australia.

While Canon has offered Managed Print Services in the Asia Pacific region for more than six years, this is the first time the service has been expanded with a wider remit around document management, and provides a standardised methodology to deliver service globally.

Although initially targeting larger businesses operating in Australia, Canon has plans to extend its MDS offering to small to medium businesses in the future.

It will work with organisations that use competing devices, saying this will allow "customers to optimise the printer fleets they have, while working with Canon expertise to design a technology roadmap to meet the future needs of the business."

“Canon’s approach is to first analyse, then design and deploy a customised solution based on the unique needs of our customers’ business. Following that, we provide ongoing support to evaluate and review processes to ensure ongoing benefits for customers throughout the life of their partnership with us,” said Brender.

A key element of its managed print service is delivered through Canon's eMaintenance software, which allows it to actively identify issues remotely with a printing device and solve them before they impact business operations.

For document scanning workflow, Canon's latest generation of imageRUNNER ADVANCE MFPs deliver direct capture to enterprise document management systems through the eCopy interface. Canon provides management capabilities through its 'Therefore' software which allows organisations to define policies on the retention of data held on their systems.

A new series of monochrome MFPs, the imageRUNNER ADVANCE 8000 Series and 6000 Series will be launched in Australia in July.

The imageRUNNER ADVANCE 8105/8095/8085 models promise exceptionally fast scan speeds in both black-and-white and colour. A standard, single-pass duplex scanning unit enables these devices to capture both sides of a two-sided original in a single pass, while delivering scan speeds of up to 200 images-per-minute (ipm) black-and-white and 100 ipm in color at 300 dots-per-inch (dpi) (Letter).

The new models incorporate a Full Color SVGA TFT Control Panel, with a customisable user interface, Main Menu keys for easy access to popular functions and a Quick Menu key to help simplify workflow and share frequently used jobs or functions within a workgroup using one-touch buttons. Also included on all models is remote notification of low-supply inventory and "on-the-fly" paper or toner replacement, ensuring that high-volume jobs can run without interruption.

Additionally, all new models support Canon's MEAP technology, allowing for greater integration with customer's business processes and with leading third-party software applications.